Present: Tense
by musicnotes093
Summary: Months have passed after the time-traveling accident, and Leo's starting to feel a change somewhere within him. It's something permanent, unlike the invisibility that just came in and went out. He tells his family and his team not to worry—but they soon find out that their fears have not been baseless. Sequel to For Future Reference.
1. I

**Title:** _"Present: Tense"_

 **Rating:** T

 **Genre:** Friendship, Drama

 **Character(s):** Leo, Adam, and Donald play the bigger roles, but the family and the Elite Force peeps are also here

 **Pairing(s):** mentions of Donald/Tasha, but that's it

 **Summary:** Months have passed after the time-traveling accident, and Leo's starting to feel a change somewhere within him. It's something permanent, unlike the invisibility that just came in and went out. He tells his family and his team not to worry—but they soon find out that their fears have not been baseless. Sequel to For Future Reference.

 **Notes:** Yep. Should've known better than to pick an open-ending ending to a one-shot because while I was editing, ideas for a sequel started coming together. Honestly, though, I'm surprised For Future Reference piqued interest! Thank you, guys! Your enthusiasm greenlighted this whole thing. It's much appreciated. :)

Just wanted to let everyone know that although you'll see Mighty Med characters here, it won't be filed under the crossover section for the reason that this whole story will be happening after Elite Force has formed. Since that's happening in the LR 'verse, we'll stay in the LR archives.

Before we start, just a short disclaimer/shout-out: AlienGhostWizard14 gave me the idea for the last part of this chapter. Full details later so as not to spoil anything. ;) (Thanks, AGW!)

Please enjoy this three-shot!

* * *

I.

Today is not a good day.

Though, if he's to be completely honest, lately, he's had lots of not good days.

It's not that he's in a bad mood or anything. He just hasn't been feeling stellar physically. He doesn't think it's because of the Academy. Although the trainings can be exhausting, he does truly enjoy what he does. Plus, it's not like he handles much of the physical training. Ever since Chase left, his father has given him the academic classes to teach, so not much strain there. It can be mentally draining at times, yes, especially since he has to handle both being a teacher and a college student, but his stepfather and step-uncle had been gracious enough to help him out whenever he nears the burnout stage so he can have a break.

So, this is not burnout either.

He hasn't told his family yet because he knows they have the tendency to panic at little things, but for the past week, he's been very fatigued and almost too sensitive to touch. It's weird. There's something going on inside him that he can't put his finger on. It makes him queasy and irritable. He feels hollow and weak, and that, in turn, has caused him to be a little sluggish.

He suspected once that the time travel accident aftereffect is coming back, but he didn't hold onto that theory for long. It's been nearly three months since then, and the invisibility that came with the short wave of sickness has proven flaky. He only had the ability for three days at best, before his stepfather and his step-uncle could fully study it. After that, he was back to his usual abilities.

That was disappointing, to say the least. He really had plans for that accidental ability.

With that hunch out of the way, he's left clueless as to his odd illness. This has been going on for too long, and quite honestly he's sick of being sick. His family and his friends have been sensing that something is wrong, and several times they've asked him if he's okay, but all he's done is assure them that they don't need to worry about him – because they don't. He even joked that he's just getting old.

Today, though, he doesn't know how that reasoning will be received. He's barely able to move, and his skin feels prickly. His bones burn, and his heart, at every half hour, pounds heavily. Surely, someone will notice it, and he's not too sure he wants so many people to know he's feeling under the weather.

He doesn't want to call attention to himself either. It's Adam's graduation party, and the last thing he wants is to steal the spotlight from his older brother. Adam's worked so hard for this. This is his day. Everything should be happy and great.

So, he takes in a deep breath, releases it slowly, and then resumes his work of decorating the house for the party.

"Donald, honey, do you think we have enough food?" his mother asks worriedly.

"I don't know," his stepfather says pensively as he looks over the array lining the counter. Turning around, he says, "Adam! These are good, right? How many people did you invite?"

"Not very many," Adam says as he comes over to check, a roll of tape on his hand. "It's just us, Bob, five of my friends, and then Chase and Bree and their friends, so that should be…fifteen." He shrugs. "Chase and Bree may not even come, so that brings that down to ten."

"Aw, don't say that, sweetheart," his stepmother says.

"Yeah. You never know," his father assures him. "It's a special occasion. They'll probably come and visit."

"Oh. Can we save some cake for Douglas? He'll probably like that since he has to stay in the island with the rest of the students so we can have the party," Adam says.

He disregarded what they said on purpose, their parents know, but they choose not to address that. "Of course," his stepmother says with a smile. "I was going to cut the cake, but if you want, you can do it later so you can decide how much to give everybody."

"Okay. Sounds good to me," Adam says with a grin.

Leo descends the short ladder he's been standing on as his mother discusses a few other things they have left to finish. As he reaches the last step, a wave of dizziness hit him, causing him to miss and stumble loudly backwards.

"Whoa there."

Looking up at his stepfather after the world around him settles, Leo sees that all three of them are looking at him, alarmed. He forces a grin. "Sorry. Just being clumsy," he excuses.

"Well, be careful, baby. I don't want you to break anything," his mother says.

"Yeah, dude. It's just decoration. It's not that serious," Adam says with a good-natured laugh.

"Right," he mumbles with a smile. He turns away to clean up his workspace so they won't see how terrible he's really starting to feel.

When he comes back after putting away the ladder, the front door opens. "Hey! We heard there's a party over here!"

"Bree!" Donald rushes over when he sees his daughter and his son come in, Oliver, Kaz, and Skylar in their tow. He hugs her tightly and says, "You guys made it."

Bree narrows her eyes, chuckling. "Yes, we did," she says. After her father disengages and moves on to hugging his son, she asks, "Did you miss us, Mr. Davenport?"

Chase groans when his father hugs him tightly. "I'm guessing yes," he says.

"Of course I did. You're my kids?" Donald tells them both.

"I can smell food. When can we start eating?" Kaz asks as Tasha comes over to give her children hugs.

Skylar swats him on the arm. "Kaz! Don't be so rude," she chides. With a smile to their hosts, she says, "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Davenport. It's good to see you."

"Hello, Skylar," Donald says with a smile.

"Come in, you guys," Tasha waves them in. "We're just waiting for another half an hour for Adam's friends to arrive. After that, we can get started."

"Speaking of Adam, hey! Congrats!" Bree tells her older brother as she hands him her gift then gives him a hug.

"Yeah. We didn't think this day would come," Chase teases as he deposits his gift on the counter beside Adam.

"Ha ha. Funny," Adam says.

"How'd that happen anyways? I thought you're done with school?" Chase asks.

Adam exchanges glances with Leo from across the room. He shrugs. "Well, I guess I wasn't," he says.

"Hey, Leo," Oliver waves with a smile. "How's it going?"

"It's going," Leo responds with a light grin despite the awful sensation building up in him.

Chase's brows knit. "Why are you standing way over there?" he asks.

"Yeah," Bree agrees. "Don't you want to come over and give us all a hug?"

"Uh, no. I'm – I'm fine over here."

Chase chuckles. "What, did you become a recluse while we were away?" he kids.

"No, I'm just—"

"Come on, Leo. Don't be shy. It's okay," Bree assures him. "We're not gonna bite."

"Well, maybe all of us except Kaz," Oliver comments, eliciting a laugh from their team.

Leo shakes his head, the joke lost on him and Adam. "No, really. I'm okay here right now," he says.

When the team begins lightly protesting, Adam says, "Guys, just leave him be. Leo's not feeling very well."

Leo's heart pounds—and it's not because his older brother figured out what's happening.

"You're sick?", "Oh. Sorry to hear that," and "You wanna take a seat or something?" come all at once.

"No, see, that's why he needs a hug. Come here, man," Kaz insists, striding over with open arms to where Leo stands.

"Kaz, no."

Leo backs away as he gets closer, holding his hands up. "No, I don't think this is a good—"

"Ow!" Kaz yelps immediately, backing away, feeling as if he'd been electrocuted after he embraced him.

"Kaz, are you okay?" Oliver asks his best friend when he sees him grimacing in pain.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Kaz says, rubbing his chest with a wince.

"Leo, what did you do?" Chase asks as he, Bree, and Oliver check on their teammate.

Leo looks at the four of them apologetically. He didn't feel what Kaz felt, so he doesn't know what to say. All he felt was a blast wave of energy. Everything still hurts, but now it seems like something's shifting in him. He's lightheaded. His body's starting to feel numb. "I'm sorry. I…" he shakes his head. "I don't know what happened. I didn't…"

 _Everybody's looking._

He glances around the room and sees his family watching. Save for Chase, Bree, and Oliver, who are helping Kaz into the sectional, everyone's regarding him worriedly.

This is what he's been afraid of.

"I'm sorry, Adam," he tells his older brother. "I…I think I just need to rest."

He leaves the room embarrassed and guilt-ridden. He's positive whatever happened wasn't his fault; he didn't do anything on purpose. Still, someone got hurt—and all that person wanted to do was help.

He lies down on his bed after coming to his room, eager to find some alleviation from his weird pains. He also hopes to find peace of mind. Snuggling closer to his pillows, he breathes a sigh of relief. He closes his eyes then imagines he's floating somewhere else.

A soft knock on the door brings him back before he can drift off. Adam comes in, the grin on his face earlier gone. "Hey," he says as his younger brother sits up. "Are you okay? I had a feeling you're sick, but I didn't know you were _that_ sick."

"I'm—"

"And don't say you're okay just so I'd go away," Adam adds adamantly.

Leo smiles. "I'm not feeling very good, but I think a short nap would help," he says honestly.

Adam stares at him suspiciously for a moment. "Alright," he finally says.

"Don't worry about me, Adam. Worry about your party," Leo diverts. "You should be out there. Everybody's here because of you. Don't mind me. I'll be out there after I sleep for a bit."

Adam nods albeit hesitantly. "Okay," he says. He starts to leave but then, he stops. "Leo? What _did_ happen out there?"

Leo sighs. "I don't know. But, one thing I can promise you is that tonight, I'll tell Big D about this," he says, both to his brother and to himself. He smiles up at him. "I'm serious about what I said, Adam. You should be out there. You have cake to eat and presents to open. It's your day today."

"Okay."

Before Adam leaves, Leo asks, "Oh, uh, can you please tell Kaz I'm sorry? I didn't know what that was about, but I didn't mean for it to happen."

Adam gives him a consolatory smile. "Sure."

"Thanks," Leo says as he lies back down on his bed and Adam vanishes into the hall outside. Barely a minute has passed when his phone buzzes. With a frustrated groan, he turns over, sits up, and says, "Can't I just get some sleep?" Checking the screen, he sees it's a mission alert. _Containment, Rescue Mission. Factory with highly explosive materials. Circuitry in a storage area is faulty, presents hazard. Most workers are in the process of evacuation, but some are still unaccounted._

Leo gets up. He doesn't want to leave because he's promised Adam he'll be there for him, but people can get seriously hurt if he stays. With a heavy heart, he dials Taylor's and Logan's numbers to inform them of their mission. _I'm sorry,_ he tells his family as he discreetly exits his room.

 **. . .**

Nothing is working. He's tried different combination of codes on the control panel, but nothing is working.

As it turns out, the faulty wiring is not isolated in that one storage area. Because the building is old and the wirings had been left unmaintained, the danger zone had become the entire warehouse. While Taylor and Logan are combing through the building for any workers who haven't escaped to safety yet, he's trying to shut down the power in the entire facility to prevent the whole place from blowing up.

He's succeeded for the most part, but as circumstances would have it, he can't turn off the electricity in the riskiest areas because of the back-up generators.

"Leo!" Taylor calls to him from twenty feet below. "Logan and I have cleared out the building! No one's here anymore!"

"Well, you know, besides the three of us," he manages to hear Logan mumble to Taylor despite the loud whirring surrounding him.

"That's great," he says loudly as he frowns on the monitor showing the storage areas.

"So what's next?" Taylor asks.

"We have to figure out a way to turn off the generators. It's still keeping the power going," he says.

"Where is it? Maybe Taylor and I can shut it down," Logan offers.

Good idea, he thinks, but it's too dangerous. He's about to turn around to tell them so when, in one of the surveillance videos, he sees an electrical wire swing down. It jerks wildly on the ground for two seconds, and then whips towards the barrel of explosive chemicals. When static suddenly blurs that video, he yells down, "Run! Get out of here!"

Understanding what has happened, Taylor and Logan turn around and rush toward the wide open gate ahead. Leo runs through the remaining stretch of platform he's standing on and then, without thinking about it, dives forward.

However, instead of crashing ungracefully or landing on his feet, he glides through the air smoothly and quickly. He grabs Taylor and Logan before what's happening registers to him then soars out into the open. The three of them are propelled forward by the loud blast that follows, causing them to awkwardly slam and roll into the nearby field sitting by the facility.

Deactivating the force field that has softened their fall, Logan allows his arms to fall into the ground as he, like his sister and his friend, lies down on the ground, staring at the sky in shock.

Breathlessly, Taylor comments, "That was close."

"Yeah," Logan agrees with a nod. After recalling everything that has taken place, he frowns then looks at their mission leader. "Wait. Did you just fly?"

Leo's mind and heart race. All he remembers is his desperation for the three of them to make it out alive.

He also remembers jumping from the walkway then leaping to the ground.

No. Not to the ground – into the air. He glided into it.

He flew.

He _flew_.

 _Something's wrong with me,_ he thinks as a sigh escapes from him, his body feeling both heavy with bruises and scratches and weightless with a newfound power.

* * *

 _to be continued._


	2. II

_Big thanks to EmeraldTulip, Ghostgirl37, and Susz for the reviews! They were much appreciated!_

 _Quick note before we dive into the second chapter: as mentioned, here's another shoutout to AlienGhostWizard14, because he gave me the idea of Leo's team going into a mission and his new power showing up while they're in the middle of it. Thanks for the idea!_

 _Alright. Onto the next one._

* * *

II.

There are only three perks that he sees in his current situation: he's on vacation until further notice, he's allowed to eat as much sweets as he wants (at least for the time being), and all he's got to do all day is kick back and binge on as many TV shows as his waking hours allow. Normally, he would be having the time of his life with those three things, but the situation is far from the usual. Actually, his condition saps away most of the excitement from what he has available to enjoy.

After coming home from the mission days ago and coming clean with how he was feeling and his new ability of flight, his stepfather decided to once again place him in the isolation room at Davenport Industries. The whole ordeal seemed like a huge flashback of what happened after the accident. He was again subjected to tests, the only difference being that only his stepfather, Douglas, and two other scientists are involved. He's also alone. It wouldn't have been so bad if he wasn't placed in this bigger room, with the walls turning into transparent glass with a click of a button.

It can get very uncomfortable, if he's to be honest. He feels like a gold fish in a fish bowl.

To his stepfather's credit, he's been trying to make his stay as pleasant as possible. He's brought in a very nice recliner and a sizeable TV equipped with all the channels and video streaming media he can think of. He also allows him to eat whatever he likes, given that it wouldn't interfere with the tests they need to conduct with him. He's also let three of his friends from the island come visit two days ago.

Leo guesses that the only thing he's missing is actual interaction with people. He can talk to them as long as he wants, but he can't touch them. They suspected that a touch catalyzes something in him, causing him to do things he's not previously able to do. That seems to be what happened when Kaz hugged him; that one quick interaction caused that invisible reaction that eventually gave him flight – which power Kaz happens to possess. Since they don't know yet how it affects him and those who he comes in contact with, they thought it best to separate him from others—for his safety and for theirs.

He has no problem with that, but sometimes it does leave him feeling like a freak.

There's also those lab works that's been leaving him more tired than ever. They've only done it once, but he's quickly learned that his least favorite of all is when they draw blood. They don't take much, just enough for the tests, but it's left him huddled on the recliner, nibbling on a chocolate chip cookie while lifelessly watching episodes of _Luther_.

When the door behind him hisses open, he only slightly turns his head before directing his attention back to the TV. "Hey," he says.

"Hey," Donald says with a smile as he walks in with a folder. "How're you feeling?"

Leo only shrugs.

Donald knows better than to force any further response, so instead he just remarks, "You must've really liked those cookies."

"They're pretty good," Leo says evenly, unusually calm and unenthusiastic.

He really doesn't like what these tests do to him.

Unbeknownst to him, his stepfather hates seeing him in that condition more. He doesn't let his stepson know about it, though. He knows he has to stay positive. "I'm really sorry it's taking us a while, Leo. We're trying our best to get you out of here as soon as possible," he says instead.

A small smile finally pulls at Leo's lips. "I know, Big D," he says after turning towards him.

Returning the warm expression, Donald asks, "Do you wanna hear what we found?"

Leo picks up the remote to pause what he's watching. "Fire away, Pops," he prompts.

"Alright. Well, we've done some comparison with the samples that we have stored from three months ago to the ones that we've just recently gotten, and there's no doubt that there's a difference," Donald rattles excitedly. "For some reason, there's a change in the composition of the macro—well, actually, there's a change in how the macromolecules in your cells react to—"

"Big D?" Leo says, a hand raised up. "I don't want to cut you off, but I really can't handle the big words at the moment. I'm dizzy and sick, and I just can't, so can we please just skip to the end where you tell me what's happening with me and I react to it?"

Donald chuckles. "Douglas and I found that our suspicions were right," he says. "You have the ability to copy the abilities of the people you touch. You can fly because Kaz can. The physical contact caused that."

Leo shifts towards his stepfather as he ponders over it. "Huh. So, you're saying that I'm now practically the male version of Rogue."

"Not quite," Donald corrects. "Rogue absorbs. You just copy. And store."

"Copy and store?"

"It's like your energy transference, only this time, you don't drain and neutralize power from your source. You just…read it and mimic it." Donald frowns. "Power mimicry. Does that make sense?"

Leo frowns to himself. "I think so."

"What's weirder is what it does to you," Donald continues. "We've only conducted three tests with this theory so far, but it seems like the more powers or abilities you absorb, the more stable your system becomes."

"So I've been feeling very sick because, uh, my storage is low?"

"Precisely."

Leo sighs resignedly. "Great. That accident has turned me into a human leech."

"You're not excited about this?"

"I don't know. I mean, I guess I am. Flying's pretty cool and all. It's scary, though," Leo says, turning his eyes back to the TV screen. "How many abilities do I have to copy to feel better?"

"We don't know yet. We've subjected several samples through eight catalytic agents already, but it seems like it's only halfway through becoming stable."

"Mm. All I need is a group hug from the Avengers, I'm hearing."

Donald grins then chuckles.

A pause settles in the room when Donald begins consulting his records for anything he may have forgotten and Leo begins to stare into emptiness, his mind heavy with a question. "Do I hurt them?" he finally asks it.

"Hurt who?"

"The ones I touch? Will I hurt them in the long run?"

Donald shakes his head. "Not that I know of. You've only come in contact with three people with abilities, and so far none of them are complaining of any change in them," he says.

Leo nods, satisfied that Taylor, Logan, and Kaz are okay. After a moment, he asks, "Did they stay, Big D? Have Bree and Chase visited me yet?"

Donald fakes a smile. He doesn't have the heart to tell him that his older siblings left after the graduation party. "No. They, um, had to go. They probably got called in to attend to something," he says. "They'll probably check on you soon. They know you're not feeling well."

Instinctively, Leo looks at his phone resting in silence on the table in front of him. It's been three days. He has not heard from them since. "I hope they're okay," he says sincerely.

Donald only smiles before consulting his notes again. "Look, you're not going to stay here long. The truth is that you're going to be coming back home soon anyways," he tells him instead. "We just need to test and see tomorrow if what you have is something permanent or another fluke like that invisibility. After that, once you're cleared, you're going to be going back home."

"That sounds really good to me."

"Mm-hm."

"I'm not gonna get poked and prodded again tomorrow, am I?"

"No. We're just gonna see if you can still fly and whatever it is that you may have copied from Taylor and Logan."

"Okay." Seeing that his stepfather is lost within the pages of the file in his hand, Leo picks up the remote to resume the show he was watching. A moment later, he grins. "I don't know. This is still too weird for me. That time travel experiment changed a lot," he tells his father. "I guess this is the price I have to pay for not being careful with the test suit. I become a science experiment."

Donald steels.

Catching that odd reaction, Leo stares at him. When he sees that something has gone unspoken, he pauses the show then turns inquisitively towards his stepfather.

Donald's periphery alerts him of this, causing him to look up.

For a moment, they're just starting at each other.

Losing that match, Donald sighs. "Okay, I wouldn't go so far as thinking of this situation as something terrible," he says. " _Maybe_ it's not as bad as it seems."

"What do you mean?"

Donald looks down on the file, unsure how to say it.

Leo figures it out before he can tell him. "You…You and Douglas came into the test room before the radiation cleared," he says. He breaks into a laugh. "Oh, this is gold. This is just fantastic!"

"Don't tell your mother, okay? But yes. Lately, my senses have been…off-kilter," Donald admits, somewhat embarrassed.

"Off-kilter? Wait. So I got Rogue's mutation, and you got Spidey senses." Leo continues to laugh, rocking back on the recliner as he clutches his stomach. "Is that why you canceled the bifocals you ordered?"

"How did you know about that?" Donald asks defensively.

"Douglas told me!" Leo says.

Donald sighs. _Chatterbox._ He wants to fume and be annoyed, but the sight and the sound of his youngest laughing causes him to smile then to chuckle. "Yeah. That's why," he says in surrender.

Leo wipes his eyes dry. "What about Douglas? What's he got?" he asks.

"I don't know, but whatever it is he hasn't told me," Donald says.

A light frown forms on Leo's face. "Wait. If you two were also affected, how come I'm the only one in here?"

"Because your case of whatever this is is worse than ours," Donald says. "And believe me, I've been checking for me and Douglas, too. Besides the sudden super senses, there's no significant development for me. There are changes with Douglas but, like I said, I don't know yet what it is."

"Maybe he developed the ability to be nice to people," Leo says. "He's been kinder than usual, you know."

Donald chuckles.

In a more serious tone, after he's leaned back to his seat, Leo notes, "Maybe we should avoid activities that would eventually involve the words 'Do not tell your mother' in the future, Big D. It hasn't really been working for us."

"Yeah. I guess so," Donald agrees, noting sadly that the brief moment of laughter has worn his stepson out. He smiles, nonetheless. "Why don't you get some sleep, Leo? Your mom and Adam won't be coming until about seven tonight. You have enough time to rest."

"That's actually a good idea," Leo says before pulling the lever at the side of the recliner so he can lie down more comfortably.

Donald takes the blanket from the bed then hands it to the teenager. "You should feel much better after a nap." When he reaches the door, he types in a command at the control pad that causes the glass walls to turn opaque and the lights inside the room to turn off. "See you later, buddy," he tells him.

"Thanks, Dad."

Donald spins back and stares. His stepson has never called him that before unless he was joking. He didn't sound like he was kidding just now. He actually sounded…serious. He was exhausted, but he meant what he said.

Most importantly, the boy doesn't seem to be in a hassle to take it back.

Donald opens his mouth to ask Leo if he knows what he just said but before he can speak, the doors to the room hiss close, cutting off any possibility of that familial term being ever retracted. He stands there in silence for a while. Then, he smiles.

Dad.

Maybe things really aren't as bad as it seems.

. . .

A few hours later, Donald finds himself in the test area that started it all. He's watching his younger brother carefully loosen one of the boards attached to the capsule, deeply concentrated on his task. "We're really dismantling this whole thing, aren't we?" he asks as he looks around and absorbs how different things are inside there.

"Yeah," Douglas says gruffly.

"At least we know it works," Donald says.

"Yeah."

Donald walks closer and says, "You're taking it all apart now?"

Douglas shakes his head. "Just draining some of the reserve. It's down to seventy-five percent at the moment. I'll give it a few more days until it's on zero," he says. He pauses to look at his brother. There, he finds a hesitant and dismayed expression, which he has suspected he will find. "It's just for the mean time. You know we can whip this thing back up easily," he assures him. Resuming what he was doing, he adds, "This has just caused so much trouble, and I don't want anyone accidentally getting hurt again."

"So it did more harm than good, huh?"

"You see what this thing did to your kid, Donny. You know things are not good when I actually feel bad for another person."

"I wasn't talking about him, Douglas."

Douglas stops. For a moment, he's unmoving. Then, he glances at his brother. He quietly exhausts a breath. "It's not as fun to be on the other side as I thought it'd be," he discloses. "It's actually kind of freaky when one moment, you see your reflection in the mirror and the next moment, you don't."

Donald chuckles. "Did you use your sample as a catalytic agent then?" he asks.

"You know it. You?"

"Yeah."

"How'd it work?"

"The sample copied it. Yours?"

"It did the same. Is the kid excited about it?"

The smile on Donald's face fades a little. "Hard to tell. He doesn't like this, that's for sure."

"Yeah, I don't blame him. It's not fun being under the microscope."

Donald grins. "You _would_ know," he says.

Douglas chuckles. "Yeah, now I do."

Donald walks over to the newly installed basic panel standing at the mouth of the capsule and asks, "What's this for?"

Douglas glances at it. "Safety precaution while I'm in here," he says. "Blue button activates the system, red stops it, and yellow opens and closes the door to the control room. Everything's powered down until I'm ready to exhaust the last of the reserve, so the blue button's been untouched."

"But the panel outside still works?"

"Yup."

"So it's still easy to turn it back up?"

"No. It's voice activated. It'll only respond to you or me."

"Any keyword?"

"Not necessarily. Just anything that would prompt it to come back on."

Donald nods. "What about the test suit? What'd you do with it?"

"The one that he was wearing is still in the lab. The back-up test suit is in the storage room down the hall."

"Ooh, can I have it?" Adam asks as he looks at them from the control room. "Me, Leo, and a few of our friends are planning to go to a comic con again later this year. I think I wanna go as a spaceman."

"Adam, what are you doing here?" Donald asks.

"Oh, uh – Dr. Evans said to ask you first if I can go up to see Leo. He said he's not sure if that's okay."

"Of course it's okay," Donald says. "Just make sure to keep your visit short if you see he's exhausted, alright?"

"Copy that," Adam says with a grin. Then, picking up the gym bag and the large brown paper bag that he has with him, he leaves.

"You sure it's a good idea to send him up there?" Douglas asks after Adam's gone.

"Yeah. Leo's not going to hurt him. Plus, Adam knows what's happening, and he doesn't seem to care. He can manage," he says with a smile. Donald takes a breath then releases it. Turning around towards his brother, he says, "Okay, Douglas. What can I help with?"

. . .

Leo is awaked by the sound of someone knocking on a glass. He stirs in his seat, sees the TV screen displaying a notice of it being on standby mode, and then he sluggishly cranes his neck to look at the door some distance behind him. In the small window embedded into the door, he sees Dr. Evans standing by the control pad and Adam grinning into the room from behind. "Hey, Leo. How's it going?" Adam's muffled voice comes through the thick partition.

"Is it seven already?" Leo asks hoarsely, rubbing his eyes as he gets up from the recliner.

"Yeah. It's awfully dark already, though. It's really weird. The weather people lied. They said it's supposed to be sunny, but it looks like it's about to storm," Adam says. He lifts up a packed gym bag and a large brown paper bag to show it to him. "I got stuff for you."

"Where's Mom?"

"She's coming. She just needed to get something real quick at the house before meeting up with us," he replies. "I got dinner, though. She said she packed enough for the three of us, but since she'll be late, we can go ahead and eat."

Leo smiles. "Great. Um…"

Dr. Evans tries to be oblivious of the hopeful stares being directed at him by both boys. Soon, however, he caves in. "You know I can't let you in," he tells Adam.

"Oh, come on, Dr. Scientist Man. It's just a visit," Adam says in an attempt to persuade him.

"Yeah. I could really use the company, Dr. Evans," Leo adds with a smile. "I've been here for days. It's just a family dinner."

Dr. Evans heavily ponders over this. "Your father will kill me if something happens," he muses out loud.

"Something's already happened, Dr. Man," Leo remarks with a light grin.

Dr. Evans is seemingly inclined to say no. However, reasoning that doing that can only lead to something being broken by either or both of the bionic boys just to carry out what they want, he yields. He types in a code.

"Thanks so much, doc," Adam says, patting the scientist's shoulder appreciatively on his way in.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm telling your father you two coerced me if he asks."

"Sure thing," Adam says absently. Depositing the bag into a nearby table, he proceeds excitedly to his younger brother with arms opened wide and says, "Hey—"

"Uh, no hugs right now, Adam," Leo says apologetically, hands up in front of him.

"Why? Is it because you're sick?"

"Yeah. I guess you can say that," Leo says. He pulls up his sleeve to show him one of the bandages. "Plus, I'm feeling kind of sore because of these things."

Adam's features wrinkle. "Ooh. What is that?"

"One of the worst things I've ever gone through," Leo says as he pulls down the sleeve. "Just a head's up: if you ever need bloodwork done, Dr. Evans is your guy. He knows where to stick the needle, unlike Dr. Collier. He treated me like a pin cushion before admitting that he didn't know what he was doing."

Adam pulls a disgusted face. "Thanks for letting me know," he says.

"Yeah."

After taking it out from the bag, Adam hands one of the dinner containers to Leo. "I think that's yours…"

"Thanks."

"Yup. And this…is mine."

"Should we wait for Mom?" Leo asks as Adam pulls up the lone swivel chair beside his recliner.

Adam shrugs. "We can, but like I said, I don't know when she's coming."

"Oh. Right."

"So when are you getting out of here?" Adam asks after they had both settled in their seats.

"Hopefully tomorrow. Big D said there's only one test left. After that, I'm good to go."

"One test? Test for what?"

Leo swallows a bite thickly before looking at his brother. "You remember a few months ago when I had that accident with the time machine?"

"Yeah?"

"And then we thought I got invisibility from it but I actually didn't?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, as it turns out, I did get something from it."

Adam frowns in curiosity as Leo hesitates. "What, you got a cold from it or something?"

"Or something." Leo looks at him. "I got a pretty interesting ability."

Adam thinks over it then shrugs. "Hm. Good. What is it?"

"Copying people's abilities."

Adam laughs. "This is like your sophomore year in Mission Creek High all over again, except that instead of copying answers from Bree, you're going to be copying bionics from her," he notes.

"Hilarious," Leo deadpans then resumes eating, only causing his brother to laugh more.

"I asked Mr. Davenport about the test suit. I call dibs on that."

"Test suit?" Leo asks. "From the time travel experiment?"

"Yeah, yeah. That. I wanna wear it for comic con. At least if I have that, I don't have to pay up for a new costume."

"Wouldn't that be too snug on you? I _am_ smaller."

Adam shrugs. "Nothing a few tweaks can't fix."

"It _can't_ fix it. There are chemicals built into that thing. It's delicate."

Adam's features slightly wrinkle. "Oh," he says. "Well, maybe the back-up one would be a little looser."

"The back-up one?"

"You like repeating what I say, don't you."

Leo glares. "I just asked because I didn't know there is one," he says. "But hey, whatever. If Big D says okay, the suit is all yours. Although, you should try not to use your blast wave when you're in it, even if you have to."

"Why?"

Leo chuckles. "If the back-up test suit is built the same way as the one that I wore, the impact from the energy might activate the chemicals."

"Normal people English, Chase."

Leo looks at him drily. "Blast wave equals you ending up in some other point in time. You don't want that." After a pause in the conversation, he asks, "By the way, how are the students in the island?"

"Good. They're enjoying the new training program we've made. It's less intimidating, they said," Adam recounts. "They're waiting for you to come back, too. They can't wait for the Capture the Flag. They're pumped up about it."

Leo smirks. "My team's gonna cream yours, you know."

Adam scoffs. "You wish."

Leo chuckles. "What about the guys? I've been texting them and vice versa non-stop, but I haven't seen the rest of them."

"They're good. They said we're gonna give you a surprise Welcome Back party when you get back to the island."

Leo narrows his eyes. "Isn't the first rule of giving someone a surprise party _not_ telling the person you're giving them a surprise party?"

"Yeah."

"So why did you tell me?"

Adam pauses. Then, he frowns pensively.

Leo blinks. "Alright, well, I guess I'm just going to have to pretend to be surprised, then," he concludes. He nods at him. "I forgot to ask, what did you get from your graduation party? Any good stuff?"

"Yeah. Yeah, there were a lot," Adam says with a smile. After scooping up a sizeable amount of food, he says, "Kaz, Oliver, and Skylar got me a comic book – with me as the main character…"

"That's cool."

"Yeah, and Bree got me new shoes and a shirt. Bob got me a t-shirt."

"He did? From where?"

Adam grins. "It's a student uniform. Red patches, my size," he says. "He found me a clean one, though."

"Oh."

"Chase gave me this one thing he said he invented. I don't believe he did, though. It just looks like a light saber."

"Did he say what it's for?"

"Something about using it if ever I'm in the worst situation during a mission," Adam says absently. "I don't know. He was explaining it to me while Oliver was there. Before I could ask him to dial down the science-y terms and explain, the two of them are already nerding it out."

Leo chuckles. "What about Big D and Mom? Did you like what they got you?" he asks with a smirk.

Adam grins. "Oh, yeah. That was sweet," he says.

Leo sighs despite the smile on his face. "I really wanted to be there when they showed it to you," he notes in dismay. "I had to keep it a secret for a week!"

"You knew?"

"Of course I did. They asked me to help pick the color."

Adam laughs. "Oh, man, you nailed that choice. I would have picked it."

"You know that your insurance will be a bit higher now, right? Red's a danger color for cars."

Adam shrugs. "I don't care. I probably won't use it much anyways. Not if I'm on the island."

"So, yeah. I get to ride shotgun on the first ride, right?"

Adam smiles. "You know it," he says. "Oh! That reminds me: Tasha said the gym bag's got your change of clothes, and she said she put something in there if the tests get too bad? I can't really remember her exact words."

Leo frowns, unsure what his mother meant by that. He reaches over to retrieve the bag, and then he unzips it. He sees the stack of clothing inside, along with a few comic books and some other necessities, but what catches his attention more is the soft bump caused by what's underneath the other items. He digs for it blindly, and then pulls it out. He sighs when he sees it. "Oh, man, I can't believe this," he mutters. "After all these years, Mom kept it."

"Oh, I know this!" Adam says excitedly, putting down his food on the table to reach for the teddy bear. Despite its once bright color having already been washed out by time, its fur is still undeniably soft. It's been obviously well-maintained. He stares at it fondly, a wave of nostalgia hitting him. "I had one of these when I was little."

"You did?"

"Yeah. Mr. Davenport bought me one when I was six because I kept having bad dreams. In fact, Bree and I fought over it a lot because she wants it and I don't want to give it to her," Adam says, laughing lightly at that last part. He turns over to the tag sown at the foot of the bear as he says, "That's why I—"

Leo watches his older brother with a frown when he sees the happy expression on his face slowly fall as he stares at something. "That's why you…what."

"How did you get this?" Adam asks.

"That teddy bear? I don't know. Like I said, Mom's the one who's kept it," Leo says. "Why?"

"Oh, uh, nothing. Just curious," Adam says, only telling his brother half of the truth. He smiles. "Did your mom buy it for you, too, when you were younger?"

"No. Actually, the story behind that thing is weird," Leo says.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." He looks down at his food and begins to absently pick on it. "My mom told me that somebody gave it to me. She doesn't know who. She wanted to get rid of it, but she said I wouldn't let her. She said I would cry whenever she tried to. I can't remember why now, to be honest."

"Really. When did you get this?"

"Around first grade, maybe?" Leo scratches his head. "That's why Mom didn't want me riding the school bus anymore, at least not until I got to high school. She tried letting me go when I was younger, and it worked for a while, but then this one bus driver decided to drop me off three stops too early. I wasn't paying attention, and I only realized that I wasn't where I was supposed to be when the bus had already left." He scoffs. "It was terrible, man. I guess that's why I can't remember much. Mom told me that I later told her that I was just walking around the neighborhood crying."

"Well that's awful," Adam comments.

"Yeah," Leo agrees. "She said they found me sleeping on the swing in our backyard that night right after they got off the phone with the police. They said they suspected I just walked home and fell asleep there, but then I had this bear with me when they found me. Mom said I told her that there was a man who helped me find my way home, and he was the one who gave this to me. Apparently, he said he was a family friend."

"Is he?"

"I don't know. I can't remember," Leo says.

"Interesting."

"Super trippy, you mean," Leo says with a smirk. "But – I guess I should be thankful that whoever helped me did it. Who knows where I would have been now if he never came."

Adam smiles down at his food in agreement but says nothing else.

They sit in silence for a while, eating, one of them deep in thought and the other quite lost with finding comfort and strength from the meal. To fill the void, Leo turns on the television to play an episode of a show they both like. Voices drone on and scenes play out, but neither of them pays attention.

After a while, Adam speaks. "Mr. Davenport told me the other day that he's thinking of putting the students into teams next year," he comments as if he doesn't mind it although he does.

Leo catches that. "Yeah, he told me," he says in a tone that allows his brother to move in his own pace.

"He says he's going to start assigning teams to different regions, too. Did he tell you that?"

Leo nods. "Yeah."

"Did he tell you yet where you and your team are going to be?"

Leo smiles. "Adam, are you asking me whether I'll choose to be assigned somewhere really far?"

Adam scoffs. "No. What do I care? I'm twenty-two. I don't need a babysitter," he says.

The smile on Leo's face turns into a grin. "Oh, just admit it, dude. Just thinking about it makes you miss me already," he says.

Adam scoffs again, shaking his head this time.

"Plus, you may not need a babysitter wherever you go, but you'll always need family," Leo adds. When his brother looks at him, listening, he shrugs. "It's just a fact of life, man. You need family, or at least a friend, whatever place you go to. If you don't have those, then what good is staying there going to be?" he says. "If you're asking whether I will willfully move across the country without any hesitation, no, I won't. That's not a choice I'll make. Taylor and Logan are my friends, yeah, but you're my brother. You're also one of my best friends. …That may have sounded really corny, but whatever. It's true. Now, if you decide to move away with your new team, I'll be okay with that. But if you need me to hang around for a bit, go wherever, don't worry – I got your back."

Adam only stares for a moment. He chuckles as he finishes off his dinner, and then shows his appreciation for his brother's assurance by lightly elbowing him.

The contact causes an invisible spark to go off.

"Ow!"

"Hey!"

"Chill, Leo! What'd you do that for?" Adam asks, rubbing his elbows unhappily after being electrocuted.

"Me? I didn't do anything! Didn't they tell you no touching the patient?"

" _No._ "

Leo sighs. "Great. Another ability I won't know how to control," he mumbles as he tries to clean up the food that has spilled all over the blanket and his lap.

Adam frowns. Then, he grins. "Oh, right. The cheating superpower," he says.

Leo rolls his eyes. He sits up to shake the numbness that's beginning to pervade his legs and then finishes with clearing up the slight mess. "Look at what you did," he mutters bitterly.

Adam laughs then objects—starting an insincere and nonsensical banter between the brothers that will soon lead them to a fit of laughter.

. . .

"Yeah— Yeah, I know, Beth. I'm making my way to the car now," Tasha tells the person on the other side of the phone call as she hurries to her vehicle. Clipping her phone between her shoulder and her ear, she fishes for the key in her purse then clicks on the unlock button once she finds it. She nods as she hops into the driver's seat. "Yeah. Tell Martin to calm down. It's not like that's prime material for the evening news," she tells her assistant after shutting the door.

She simultaneously listens to the young woman's response and draws out her wallet to find something. She smiles when she flips the wallet open and sees a picture of her son taken just after he turned seven. "I understand," she tells her assistant, just as she finds the business card she needs. "Well, I got it right here. You don't have to worry about telling Martin. I'll call him after I get in contact with our guy. Right now, I'm really just in a hurry. I told my sons I will have dinner with them. Or at least sit down and watch something. I don't know."

Tasha nods slowly after her assistant replies. "I definitely will, Beth. Leo will appreciate that," she says, turning on her car. "Alright. Good night. Bye." She places her phone up on its holder once they hang up. Before pulling the gear shift into drive, she slides the business card back into its slot. She stares at her son's picture for a bit when she catches sight of it again.

She smiles. It's been a good idea, to put his picture in there. One look at that smile on his face, and she knows all the stresses and the sacrifices over the years have been worth it.

Tasha closes her wallet, and then looks up at the sky. "What's going on with this weather?" she asks nobody in particular as she gazes in confusion at the great dark clouds looming in the skies.

Thinking nothing much of it, she adjusts the controls of her car then drives off the parking lot, neglecting to realize that in one of her treasured pictures, her son is slowly starting to fade into non-existence.

* * *

 _to be continued._


	3. III

_It took quite a bit to post this last chapter (and there's a very good reason for it), but we made it! I wanted this sequel to be finished before we move into a new year. You know, just to fit the whole theme going on here. ;)_

 _Though, I do understand that to the countries east of ours, it's already 2016._

 _Anyways, kind of a long-ish note here. First off, many, many thanks to the following who had left me reviews but who I unfortunately haven't gotten a chance to write a reply to: EmeraldTulip, AlienGhostWizard14, Ghostgirl37, LRW, RealityXIllusion, Guest (I LOVE it! That's really, really good. I think you nailed the reason! ;) ), and ceeceerocks2000. Thank you so much, guys! I'll try to get around to responding soon!_

 _Second, if you're like the rest of us anxious fans in the fandom and regularly scours the 'net for plots and pics of upcoming episodes, more than likely, you've seen and read the synopsis of the next episode of the show, which will be entitled_ And Then There Were Four. _W_ _ell...you know where I'm going with this, don't you? So, for the sake of this whole story, let's just say that [spoiler] does exist in this, but he just wasn't mentioned. That is possible, and I'd like to think it's still realistic (it happens regularly_ _anyways, so why not?)._

 _Third, here's a short shout-out to Chibi-Twan, who did mention something about time shifts in a conversation we had before (I think). I will honestly admit that that's one of the things that influenced the plot for this. Thanks!_

 _Finally, I hope everyone enjoys this last chapter! I'll talk to you guys next year!_

 _\- Shaine_

* * *

III.

 _Test Room B is on the third floor. I make a right after I get out of the elevator, and then make a right for the double doors. Put your right palm on the scanner, and the door will open. The room number is 3401. Test Room B, third floor, right, right, 3401. Don't tell Leo that everyone in the island's waiting for him for his surprise party._ Adam repeats these words over and over again in his head as the elevator ascends to the third floor, careful not to neglect any detail.

His brother is supposedly in the middle of the final test and should be coming home in an hour or so. He's excited for him, not only because he knows how much the stay there has bored his brother to death but also because he knows of what's waiting for the younger teen. When he left the island about two hours ago, his brother's friends were already busy with preparing the living quarters for the surprise party. It was nice to see that many people rallying around his brother. They were so supportive and caring that it's no wonder Leo likes hanging out with them.

As he has promised the day before, he has also brought in the new car today so Leo can ride in the passenger seat on the way home. _He's going to be so excited,_ Adam thinks.

When the doors of the elevator open, the unsightly view of the clouds outside greets him. The skies are still ominously heavy, and the expanse is tinged with a streak of green. It looks unsettling at best. During his drive to the building, the weather forecaster has expressed complete confusion about it. He went into elaborate explanations of how none of the machines they use for weather prediction spell anything catastrophic. Besides the sudden mugginess, it's supposed to be sunny and clear. Yet, almost every visible source warns of something dangerous looming in the horizon.

As a precaution, since the conditions are also similar out in the Pacific even though it's thousands of miles away, he has prepared the students last night for an evacuation in case of an emergency. Leaving Taylor, Logan, and Miles at the helm, he's confident that they can make a timely exit if ever they need to.

Meanwhile, he's just prepared for whatever happens.

Adam adjusts the strap of the backpack he has slung over his shoulder. It's not very heavy, since it only contains that one thing he wants to show Leo once he's cleared to go. His younger brother might find it as amusing as he did after he searched for and found it last night.

His eyes scan through the row of doors, both to his right and to his left, particularly the dark colored stickers lining the upper corner of the doorposts, the room's designated number printed on it. After a short bout of confusion with some numbers that are out of order, he finally finds 3401.

"Wow. That's actually pretty cool," Adam hears his sister say before he can come into the room. He stops in his tracks then smiles. _Bree._

"I know. I can't believe it." Chase. The younger brother scoffs good-naturedly. "Skylar's gonna have a fit when she hears about this."

Bree laughs.

There's a pause in the conversation. Then, Chase speaks again. "Don't get me wrong. I've no problem checking up on Leo or anything, but do we really have to be here?" he asks. "He's obviously okay. Oliver, Kaz, and Skylar need us more at the headquarters. Kaz is still freaked out about the accident. We should be there for him. Can't we just give Leo a call or something? Tell him we were here but we had to leave? We kind of don't have time."

"I know," Bree agrees. She takes a deep breath then says decisively, "Why don't we wait for ten minutes? If they haven't finished by then, we'll just go. We just won't tell him we were here so he won't feel bad." A ping goes off. Then, "Let's make that five minutes."

"Skylar?"

"Yeah. I forgot I told her we were going to get that thing this afternoon."

Adam's heart breaks when he remembers what Leo said about family, friends, and finding home with them.

However, he's distracted when his phone buzzes in his pocket. He takes it out, and the reminder on the screen makes him grin. He walks into the room absentmindedly and with a happy disposition as he clears out the message. _Don't tell Leo about the surprise party,_ he tells himself with a degree of excitement. He proceeds towards the wide panel of glass ahead and looks into the large, open room on the other side. There are equipment cluttering the sidelines, one of which seems to be recording someone's vitals, and in the back sits a few huge machineries. In the middle of the brightly lit room are Douglas, holding a tablet on his arm, and Leo, who seems to be in deep concentration.

Adam notes how tired and weaker he seems to be.

"Hey, Adam."

Adam turns around and finds Bree and Chase looking at him, puzzled as to why he didn't appear to notice them earlier when he came in. "Oh. Hey," he says. "What're you two doing here? Wait. You're not here for more cake, are you? We have some left over at the house, but I'm not sharing."

His younger siblings only shoot bewildered stares at him. "Why would we travel thousands of miles just for more cake?" Chase asks.

Adam shrugs. Bored of the conversation, he allows it to fall into a lull. Instead, he watches with keen interest as Leo nods after Douglas tells him something. He takes a deep breath, and then, in a few seconds, he begins slowly floating off the ground. As he elevates higher and higher, Adam searches the control panel for a few buttons. Recognizing them and their purposes, he turns the knob so he can hear what's happening on the other room, and then he presses a button. "Boo!" he jokingly jeers with a chuckle, calling his uncle's and his brother's attention. "Cheater!"

Leo only shakes his head, a weary smirk pulling on his face.

Douglas, on the other hand, squints at his direction. "Adam? What are you doing here?"

Adam presses the button again. "Um… Moral support?"

Leo scoffs.

Douglas only looks at him, clearly unimpressed. After Leo mutters something, he smirks. "I'll say," he tells his youngest nephew. To the oldest, he says, "If you're here to pick him up, we'll be done in about twenty minutes. Until then, please, Adam – no distractions."

"…I can't guarantee that," Adam says, but he leans off the button anyways.

Douglas only rolls his eyes before turning his focus back to his original task.

Adam watches for a moment as Leo glides into the air. His flight, though slow, is rocky, and it's evident that he's yet to get used to the idea of him being airborne. He looks frightened and unwell. He looks ready to call it quits and go home.

Adam draws out his phone. _Coming in in about 30-45 mins.,_ he types then sends.

 _Ok good. That gives us enough time to order the pizza,_ Era texts him a minute later.

"So! How are things going with you and Era?" Bree asks cheerfully to end the silence.

"Man. Forgot the cups!" Adam mumbles to himself in frustration when he remembers, oblivious to the question asked. Turning around, he says, "Do you guys know where I can buy plastic cups? Somewhere near?"

"There's a…dollar store a few blocks from here," Chase says, somewhat confused.

Adam points a finger at him, smiling victoriously. "Yep. Thanks," he says before typing another message.

"Adam? Is everything okay?" Bree asks worriedly.

Adam frowns up at them, confused. "What do you mean?"

Bree and Chase exchange glances. "It just seems like…you don't want to talk to us," Bree replies.

"Is it because of what I said at your graduation party?" Chase asks. "Because it was just a joke. I didn't mean anything by it."

Adam chuckles. "Chase. I knew it was a joke," he says. "I wasn't offended."

"Are you sure?"

Adam is about to respond when Donald runs into the room, cutting him short. Even through the relative darkness, the dread and urgency filling his eyes are evident. He looks at them, one by one, seeking, and when he doesn't find who he's looking for, he inquires nearly breathlessly, "Where's Douglas and Leo?"

"In the middle of the test," Adam says, pointing with his thumb to the room behind him. His brows wrinkle. "Mr. Davenport?"

"I just got off the phone with Tasha," Donald explains, drawing out his wallet. "She told me she was on her way to work when she saw that Leo's picture when he was seven is gone. She's frantic. She's on her way here now."

"Gone?" Chase repeats. "Somebody took it?"

"No, the picture itself is there. It's Leo who's vanishing from it." Donald pulls out the picture he's been keeping in his wallet and shows it to his children. It's one that was taken the day he and his wife got married. Originally, it shows him, Tasha, and the then thirteen year-old Leo at their garden reception.

Now, the image is gradually reducing into a mere blur of colors on a photo paper.

"Something's happened in the past, and the change is coming in in waves," Donald tells his children as they look up from the picture. "This is not the only one. Save for the pictures of the three of you when you were younger and all the older pictures, everything else is fading."

A loud crash from the other room causes them to turn and look. Through the window, they can see Douglas hurrying over to his nephew's unmoving form then turning him over.

Adam, with Donald, Bree, and Chase following right after, hurries in to help, pulling the door to his left open before descending the short flight of stairs.

"Douglas, what happened?" Donald asks as he kneels across his brother, looking down at his son who's lying disturbingly still on the floor.

"I don't know. He was on his way back down when he just crash landed," Douglas says, glancing behind him to check what the monitor indicates. Seeing the flat line, he turns to his older brother, unsure what to do. "He didn't fall that hard. He couldn't have broken—"

"No, no. He didn't," Donald dismisses hurriedly as his mind races. He deftly locates where the small device attached to his stepson is, and then pulls it out. He holds it up to show it's been damaged by the fall. "His heart's still beating. I hear it. It's going in and out, but it's there."

"You hear it?" Chase asks.

Donald exchanges glances with his brother. "We'll have to explain later," he says.

"So, Leo's still okay, right? He's still technically with us?" When four pairs of eyes dart towards his direction, the expressions accompanying those ranging from confusion to outright frustration but confirming his statement nonetheless, Adam coolly says, "Oh, good! That gives me time to go to the store to get cups. Just call me when he's dying." Then, he jogs off, leaving his family behind in bewilderment.

. . .

After Adam is gone, Donald sighs before refocusing back to Leo. Sometimes he's glad that Adam's blissfully oblivious of the bad things happening when they do happen; it protects him. However, there can be times, like today, when he wishes that his oldest is not as nonchalant about detrimental matters as he is usually. He could have at least stayed behind.

"Do you think he did something when he went back to the past that could have caused all this?" Douglas asks him.

"He time traveled?" Chase asks, surprised and evidently unhappy that they once again did something that shifted the balance of everything that exists.

"Yes. He did," Donald confesses in guilt, though not impressed with his son's accusatory tone. "Douglas and I built a machine for time traveling, and we sent Leo back. That's why he has the abilities that he has now."

"I thought it was a bionic ability?" Bree says, confused.

"No. It's not." He frowns unhappily. "Both of you really haven't checked on your brother until now?" Taking their silence as an answer, to Douglas he says, "I don't think he did something there. The effects wouldn't have stretched as far back as ten years."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" asks Douglas. "What do you mean by 'effects'? And ten years?"

"Leo's not dying, but he _is_ ceasing to exist. He's getting physically deleted from the present because of something that happened in the past," Donald explains. He looks at his stepson, barely alive. "It has something to do with him, only him, because our pasts are not changing."

"So Leo's just gonna vanish completely?" Bree asks.

Donald nods. "But not just that," he adds. "The present's going to stay the same for most people. There may be minor shifts for some, but – for Tasha, for Rose, for his friends, everything's going to change. We will be affected, too. You, Chase, Adam, Douglas, me. I doubt I would've met Tasha if he wasn't in her life. Even if I did, if Leo never came, the three of you would have stayed in the basement, and everything that's happened these past four to five years would have never happened. If we don't correct this, sooner or later time will rearrange everything."

"Where are we going to be afterwards?"

"I don't want to find out," Donald tells his daughter, dread and sadness setting in as he imagines a possible outcome.

Chase draws out his phone, clearly frustrated. "Alright, I'm going to call Oliver. There must be somebody that can help us fix this."

"How? We don't even know what's broken," Donald says. "How can _they_ help us?"

"The superhero world has far more resources than we do, Mr. Davenport. We're very limited," Chase replies before making the call.

Donald bites back a bitter remark. It's not the appropriate time to let out his frustration regarding the pattern that he's been noticing in his children lately. It will have to wait.

"Donald."

Donald turns to his brother and sees a worried look on his face. Casting his sights to what has brought about the unusual expression, he freezes. His stepson is slowly fading. His entire body, from head to feet, appears then disappears from sight as if an invisible wave rolls in then pulls back over him repeatedly.

"He didn't get that from me," Douglas tells him.

"We need to find out exactly when everything changed and what happened," Donald says, watching helplessly as something seemingly inevitable plays out in front of him.

"Then what? There's not enough charge in the machines to make a safe trip back!"

"How much more is left?"

Douglas shakes his head. "Fifty-five percent at best," he says. "And it's draining as we speak."

"Can't we just charge it up?"

"We don't have enough time," Douglas says.

For the first time in a long time, Donald sees defeat in his brother's eyes. Instinctively, he takes a glance at his daughter then his older son. The relationship between the members of his family may not be perfect, but he's still happy with what he has. He has a wife that loves him, three children that works hard to keep many people safe, and a younger brother who, despite their differences in the past, is still an integral part of his life. He also has a stepson who, despite his clumsiness and occasional sour attitude, loves him and so many other people.

He doesn't want to lose this. Not without a fight.

"We have to try," Donald tells Douglas.

Seeing his determination, Douglas nods in agreement. "How are we going to do this?"

"Will the machine still operate?" Donald asks, pulling out his phone when it begins ringing.

"Yeah, but it's kind of risky," Douglas says, not fully confident with this plan.

"We start with boosting up the reserves for the trip," Donald says before accepting the incoming call. "Tasha, honey – I know you're on your way here now, but I need you to check something for me."

 _"Oh, uh, this is not Tasha, Mr. Davenport,"_ Adam says. _"It's me. Adam."_

Donald huffs. "Adam, I need you to get off the phone. I need to call Tasha."

 _"Wait, wait! Don't hang up! I have something important to ask!"_ Taking his father's silence as a cue, Adam says, _"Okay, so, I'm in my car right now. The key's on the ignition. What do I do next again?"_

"Adam. This is not important."

 _"Yes, it is! I just want to know what to do next."_

"Adam!"

 _"Please, Mr. Davenport! I just need you to tell me!"_

Angrily, Donald says, "Just turn the key and turn it on!"

 _"What?"_

"Turn it on."

 _"Say that again. Didn't quite get it."_

"Turn it on!" Donald yells, unable to bridle his frustration at his oldest child anymore. His temperament is further worsened when the call ends abruptly, the boy on the other side of the call not bothering to thank him.

A beep disturbs the silence that has descended on the room. After checking the alert on his phone, a heavy frown comes to Douglas' features. He looks up at his brother. "The panel for the machine has just been activated," he tells him.

"What?"

"Yeah. It says here that it's just been activated by you."

The frown on Donald's face deepens. Similar confused looks also come to Bree and Chase as they hear that. "How could I have activated it? It's on the tenth floor," he says. He thinks about the possibilities as he stares at his brother, and then, gradually, the answer comes to him. His face clears of the confusion, only to give way to dread. The phone call. "Adam," he says. "He must've put the call on speaker to get me to activate the system."

Understanding what has taken place, Douglas tells them, "You guys go. I'll stay here with Leo."

Not wasting any time, Donald leaps to his feet then makes a dash for the elevators, Bree and Chase following right behind him.

. . .

Adam looks at the three buttons on the makeshift panel inside the capsule with deep concentration. He still remembers what his uncle said each was for last night: yellow is for the door, red is for stop, and blue is for go. His father and uncle are smart. He knows they will soon discover what he has done, and they will come and try to stop him. That's why he already smashed the yellow button, rendering it useless. For good measure, he's sealed the doors shut with his laser vision, welding the metals together to the point that opening it will be very difficult. He also pulled some wiring out of the panel in the control room in hopes of disabling that in case they try to power down the system from there.

No one can stop him. He's not going to let them.

It's somewhat a shot in the dark, but he has an idea of where he should be going. _When_ , actually, since it's a time period he's going to. He remembers only bits and pieces of what Leo has told him about his childhood. He also had a few more information from their conversation last night and from his stepmother when he called her to ask a few questions just a little bit ago. He's made an inference to his destination and already inputted that on the panel.

He also keeps in mind all of what his younger brother told him about his time travelling from three months ago, particularly the things that he has to do, cannot do, and had done. Those should help him make this as less dangerous as possible, even though it's basically only him at the controls instead of having his father and uncle with him and though the test suit he has is only a back-up and thus has no guarantee of him succeeding this or not getting hurt.

He doesn't have all the information he needs, not clearly, but he hopes it's enough. It's something that has to be done. He's known it since last night, when he saw his name written in his handwriting when he was six scrawled on the tag of the teddy bear Leo said a 'family friend' has given him a little more than a decade ago. He double-checked to make sure that Tasha didn't just mistake his teddy bear for Leo's, just to make sure he wasn't being too paranoid about it. After digging through the storage in the lab at their home in Mission Creek, he found his – same name, same color ink, same handwriting.

Leo's told him about the card. It didn't make sense before, but it does now: he, too, has to go back into the past to make sure the present will exist.

He has to give his brother the teddy bear.

Adam places his hand atop the blue button, his heart beating madly inside his chest. This can end up in a horrifying disaster, he understands, but, really, is it going to be as bad as losing his youngest brother and everything and everyone he's come to love? He takes a breath, and then braces himself for what will come next.

"Adam, no!"

Adam looks up at the window to the control room, and there he finds his father, gazing at him pleadingly. Rushing in towards the connecting door are his younger siblings, definitely in an attempt to get to him.

His father shakes his head. "Adam, you can't do this," he says. "It's not safe."

He hears the muffled sound of someone pounding on the door.

"The doors are stuck, Mr. Davenport," Chase says after working on the control panel.

"You won't be able to open it," Adam tells him evenly.

Bree marches back in to where she can see him then commands, "Just let us through!"

"No."

"Adam—"

"I said no!" Adam asserts.

"Look, I know why you want to do this, okay?" his father tells him empathetically. "I understand. I want to do the same thing, too, but – you have to wait."

"He doesn't have any time left," Adam reasons.

"I know. I know," his father says. "But there's not enough left in the reserves. It's only enough for one trip. If you go, you will be stuck there." He consults the panel, and what he sees visibly disheartens him. "You will be reliving the past for the next twelve years. When you come back to us, you will be thirty-four. Adam, do you understand? You will waste some of your most important years if you go."

Adam takes a breath. He didn't really think about it that way. Twelve years in the past, just to correct a moment in time that he may even miss if he had miscalculated everything. It scares him to think he will walk the world alone for that long. However, when he thinks of his stepbrother who has stuck with him through the years and of the possibility of losing him, he decides that age is a price he doesn't mind spending.

"We can call in some help," Chase tells him after reading his thoughts through his expression. "Just – don't do this. It's not worth it."

 _It's not worth it._ Adam stares at him bitterly. "What are you two still doing here?" he asks coldly.

"What?"

"You and Bree agreed you were only going to stay for five more minutes, right? Isn't that all the time you have for us? Five minutes?" Adam asks. "It's been up. What are you two still doing here?"

His siblings stare at him speechlessly, surprised that he has heard them. Bree regards him apologetically. "Adam…"

"I don't want to hear it. If you can't find just a little time to spend with us, then I guess I've got no time for _your_ explanations," Adam says, months of pent up hurt and disappointment finally emerging to the surface. "You always choose them. They're your family now so just go back." He clicks the helmet in place despite his father's protests. He takes a deep breath and mutters, "I need to go save my brother." Then, he hits the blue button unremorsefully.

The panels on either side of him begin shaking as soon as those receive the command. A loud noise builds up. Lights begin to flood the capsule. Two pulses, each in increasing strength, hit him in succession afterwards.

The third wave comes.

Then, the world stands still.

* * *

 _end of story two._


End file.
